


THE GLOVES COME OFF

by Ghost0



Series: The Boys Go To War [3]
Category: DCU (Comics), The Boys (TV 2019)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:28:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26444182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost0/pseuds/Ghost0
Summary: An alliance is formed and their plan starts to move forward. Billy returns to The Boys and their new other worldly allies. A confrontation changes the dynamic between the public and the supes.
Series: The Boys Go To War [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1920046
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	THE GLOVES COME OFF

Billy sat down on the bench. His hood was up, trying to conceal his face as best possible, even in the shroud of darkness. He took a minute to just be in the moment. This bench…it was the same one that Becca sat in before she disappeared. He remembered being brought to the house, seeing her again for the first time in so many years. But to see her with a kid…HIS kid. Get a hold of yourself mate Billy thought to himself. Reaching his hand under the bench, he felt around and grabbed the envelope. He looked inside, briefly checking out the paper that was concealed inside. Getting up, he walked out of the park. He wasn’t quite sure where to go to now. Fresh air is good though, been coped up underground for a while. He turned down a large alley, not caring where he ended up or what happened. The sound of someone landing on top of a dumpster he had only passed moments ago forced him to stop and face someone he hoped he didn’t have to face off against.

“Must be my lucky day.” Billy smiled, trying to show Black Noir that sneaking up on him won’t scare him. The silent Supe jumped from the closed dumpster onto the ground. Billy leaned his neck to one side, giving it a good crack. “I really need this.” Billy sprinted forward, bringing his fist forward in the hope of connecting with his face.

Noir side stepped out of the way, bringing his elbow back to jab him in the back. Billy managed to stop himself from tumbling onto the ground. But as he turned around, Noir wasted no time in punching him. Then again. Then he brought it upwards to hit the bottom of his chin. Billy fell backwards and hit the dumpster. He spread his arms out to grab onto the container, spitting blood onto the ground. Noir took several steps towards him, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt with one hand. Billy looked up at the sunglasses covering the mysterious Supe’s eyes.

“Come on. You know you want to, you cunt.” Noir used his other hand to pull a knife out. Flipping it in the air, he started to bring his arm up, ready to bring the blade downwards to stab him in the heart.

A projectile sliced through the air, stabbing Noir in the wrist. The pain made him drop the knife, turning his head to see the origin of the projectile. What he saw was not what he expected – Noir or Butcher. A tall man in a black cape stood there, yellow lines forming the picture of a bat on his chest. Once he knew he had his attention, the figure stepped forward. Noir pulled the weapon out of his wrist, letting go of Butcher in order to do so. He moved quicker than the intruder, his movements quick and worthy of someone on The Seven. But Batman was faster, gliding out of the way, crouching and sweeping to take him off balance. Flipping in the air, Noir managed to find his balance once he landed. Then the two engaged in quick hand to hand combat. A mix of martial arts and old school street brawling. Batman managed to land several hard hits. Noir got less, and even the ones that made contact didn’t seem to register with his opponent. 

Batman landed another hit, this one connecting hard with Noir’s face. Stumbling backwards a bit, Batman stood in place. Billy was never one to be saved without trying to help out at least a bit. Taking the chance, he moved forward, bringing his knee up and slamming it into his gut. Moving fast, Batman grabbed Noir by the back of his outfit and threw him away against the alley wall. Noir slid down the wall, almost landing on the ground. His hands were pressed hard against the wall, trying to push himself up. Butcher took it upon himself to deliver one more punch, knocking the silent Supe out for the count. His unconscious body hit the ground. Billy struggled to breath without feeling pain. Blood still dripped out of his mouth, down his chin and hitting the ground. He turned to face Batman, the one he at first refused to team up with.

“Let me make something clear.” Butcher explained. “My Earth, so I’m not going to blindly take order from you like a fucking child. I will challenge everything you say if I don’t like the way it sounds.” He expected to get into some kind of argument with this alien Supe. But that didn’t seem to be the thing he was in the mood for.

“There’s medical supplies back at the base.” He said as he moved towards Noir. “Have one of your team members take a look at you and make sure there’s no permanent damage.” He picked up the body and threw it over his shoulder. He then began walking out the way he came.

“Where are you going with him?” Billy called out.

Batman refused to respond. Billy stood there and watched him turn the corner. Frozen to the spot, he heard him surprisingly start up a car and drive away to a destination unknown. Billy wiped some of the blood off his face, checked to make sure he still had the envelope from the bench. He then left the alley, remembering the way back to the lair he had stormed out from.

******

Stormfront groaned, her eyes slowly opening and adjusting to the light. Sitting up, she slowly brought her legs around and onto the ground. Standing up, she almost tripped onto the ground in front of her. Holding her hands out, she gathered her focus and straightened up. Seeing a door, she slowly moved towards it and walked out into the hallway. She was back at Vought, the floor with their room. She turned and walked down the hallway, making her way to the big doors in front of the giant statue of The Seven. 

The doors opened, allowing her to step into the meeting room. It was empty, the big table vacant. Moving towards the table, she grabbed a remote and turned one of the TVs on. She found a news channel, nearly dropping the remote when she saw what the major story of the day was. It was him! That…asshole that attacked her! The anchor was saying something about killing some king in the Middle East and taking his place as ruler. Talking about how at this time, no action can be taken against him, their bullshit excuse being there is no precedent for how to react to this.

“You have got to be FUCKING kidding me!” Stormfront yelled out, for a moment forgetting about the pain radiating throughout her body. She began to turn towards the exit, but Homelander was already there, holding out both hands palms out. 

“Whoa there! Where are you going off to in such a rush?” He said with a grin on his face.

“Where do you think?” She snapped back, pointing to the screen. “I’m going over there and I’m going to tear his fucking head off!”

“OK…first of all, good morning.” Homelander brought his hands back to their normal default position. “Second, I wouldn’t recommend that. Even for us, that will require a lot of paperwork in order to make sure there is no retaliation. Something I don’t think the suits would be happy about.”  
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Stormfront asked him. “You get hurt once and suddenly you’re a pussy too scared to do anything!”

“I would watch what you say.” Homelander’s eyes burned bright red, forcing Stormfront’s face to soften and making her take pause. The glow lasted for several long moments. But Homelander closed his eyes, taking in a slow breath through the nose, exhaling through the mouth. They turned to normal once they were open again. Stepping forward, he leaned forward and whispered in her ear.

“Believe it or not, I’m on the same page as you. But there is a plan moving forward. He will have to wait, but I assure you he will regret his actions.” When Homelander pulled back, Stormfront stared at him…not sure what to feel. Surprise, yet also somewhat touched. She tried to read him, see if there is anything similar he might be feeling under the surface. But before she could look for long, other people started to come into the room, forcing him to turn around.

“Maeve, so good to see you.” Homelander said. 

“What the fuck did you do?” She demanded, crossing her arms. Homelander shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t do that with me! You fired A Train?”

“Oh, you mean that! Come on, it had to happen.” Homelander held his hands out and moved them slightly as he spoke. “His heart was stopping him from being an effective member. Honestly, if we were to keep him it would make us look embarrassing. I mean, how can we claim to be the best with someone like him on the team?”

“You really want to go there?” Maeve raised her eyebrow, staring down both him and Stormfront. But before she could speak up, Homelander addressed her. 

“As you can see, I’m back just as good as before. Hell, Stormfront doesn’t feel any pain anymore, right?” He put his hand on her shoulder and turned to her with a smile. It took a few seconds, but Stormfront confidently nodded and crossed her own arms, half smiling at Maeve. Homelander turned back to Maeve. “See? All we need to do is find a replacement for A Train – and probably The Deep while we are at it. I don’t really think we can bring him back after that whole thing.”

“While you’re at it, you should be looking for a replacement for Annie.” Maeve informed Homelander. When he shot her a questioning look, she filled him in. “In case you need to be caught up, A Train let us know that it was Annie that told the press about Compound V.”

“Wait a minute.” Stormfront interrupted. “ANNIE? Are you sure? I mean, I didn’t see her as that kind of person.” 

Maeve nodded in confirmation. Homelander pulled his hand off of Stormfront as he thought about what he heard. As he did so, Stan Edgar barged into the meeting room. Snatching the remote from Stormfront, he turned the channel to another news station. This one showing something very different. It was about A Train’s departure from the team, but it was also reporting on things about him that Vought had worked hard to cover up. Just to name a couple of them, A Train’s use of Compound V to enhance his speed and that it was him that killed his secret girlfriend Popclaw. 

“Seriously, how is shit like this so easy to just leak?” Stormfront asked out loud to no one in particular. Stan was clearly not in the mood to respond to that, glaring at Homelander and Maeve.

“Who gave this out to the press?” He stared daggers at both of them, but it seemed to be mainly at Homelander, who was only now facing him. Maeve tried to respond before things got too tense. 

“We just heard that Annie was the one behind the Compound V reveal. It wouldn’t be too much of a leap to assume that this has to be her too, right?”

“We have no way to confirm that. Starlight is currently missing. I need to know if anyone here has any information about something like this could have happened.” Stan demanded.

“Looks like you don’t have such a tight grip on things that you thought you did.” Homelander said.

“What is THAT supposed to mean?”

“Oh, I think you do.” The two glared at the other. No one else dared to speak up, afraid of what might happen if they did. It felt like hours this standoff lasted. But it finally came to an end when Stan turned around and walked out of the room. The women felt it easier to breath. Homelander turned back to the TV, which was now reporting that someone with super speed was running right through people across the city, killing low level criminals in their wake. 

Clapping his hands together, he spoke with a dark sense of pep in his voice. “Well now! I think I’m going to visit Ashley, see if there is anything else that she forgot to fill me in on. As for THAT” He made a circle with his hand in the general direction of the current report. “I’m pretty sure that I’m going to have to be the one to fix that. Just like every other problem.”

Turning around, he walked out. Not quickly, but definitely with purpose. Maeve and Stormfront stared at each other for a minute. Not quite sure how they feel about the other right now. But Maeve ended up being the first to leave. Facing the TV and leaning on the table, she studied the news to see just what kind of new crazy shit was happening today.

******

Billy walked up to the man in sweatpants and a sleeveless shirt, sitting cross legged on the mat. Several feet behind him and to Billy’s right were Frenchie and MM, practicing some sort of fighting stye. MM seemed to be giving more than Frenchie is. Then further back was an actual couch with just the one TV, Kimiko watching something. Billy stared down at the unnamed meditating man. 

“Hey. Who the fuck are you?” He asked.

“I’m inside myself right now.” The man responded without opening his eyes. “Where I go in order to think clearly and see better.”

“Right. Of course.” Billy looked again at MM and Frenchie. “You tell them to do whatever that is?”

“It’s a fighting style I was taught when I took my purpose seriously.”

“Purpose as what? A white guru?” Bill said. The man stood up, opening his eyes and stretching his back. 

“You must be Butcher. I got caught up on everyone. You can call me Charlie.” He stuck out his hand. Billy stood still at first, but then slowly took it. “If you want, I can teach you what I taught those guys. Always good to know how to fight.”

“Thanks mate, but I was CIA. I think I know how to throw a punch.” Billy started to walk away, head off to the room with the cots. But then Charlie tried to karate chop him in the back of the neck. He turned around to catch it, but didn’t hold on tight enough as the man dropped down and swung his leg, making Billy fall on his back. Groaning, Charlie leaned over him, hands on his knees.

“WAS CIA, huh?” He said. “I’m guessing by the dried blood on your chin you had a run in with someone while you were out. Personally, my money is on the guy dressed in all black. People who don’t show their faces can be brutal.” He held out his hand, who Billy reluctantly took it. Getting back up, Charlie shook his arms out and took a few steps back. “Wouldn’t hurt you to learn some new stuff, just in case you get in that situation again. Which you will, based on what I’ve heard about you and your boys. And based on what we are setting out to do. Ready?” Cracking and stretching his neck, Billy decided to give Charlie what he was asking for.

While Butcher sparred with the man who initially had no face, Annie was off away from the rest of them. She sat down on an empty crate, wearing a sweatshirt and looking exactly how she felt. Hughie walked on over, putting his hands in his pockets. “Hey…I’m not sure if you want to talk or if you want to be in silence. But I can…I should probably just leave you be, right?” He asked.

“No. I could use someone to just sit.” Annie looked up, trying and failing to smile. Hughie grabbed another crate and sat down, a few feet away from her. For a while, they just sat and watched the others. Hughie felt like if they were to talk, she should be the one to start. So for a while, neither did. But as Annie looked down at the ground, she felt like she should say something.

“They found out that it was me. The one who leaked Compound V.” Hughie turned to her, genuinely a little surprised by this revelation.  
“How?” He asked.

“A Train caught me a little bit before I broke the story. Managed to make him not talk, but he eventually talked them. Probably an attempt to get them to not kick him off The Seven.” Annie answered. 

“Well, I guess that’s two things I learned today.” Hughie said. He leaned forward slightly, as something came to him. “You ever remember those old education TV spots? I’m not sure if that’s what they were called, but they would always end with the words ‘The More You Know’ coming across the screen.”

“Oh yea.” Annie remembered, managing to give the smallest of smiles. “I didn’t watch a whole lot of TV, but I do remember that. It’s kind of weird the things that you remember during something awful happening to you years later.”

“I guess so, yea.” Hughie nodded. They both stopped talking after that. Turning their heads, they continued to watch the others. Lost in thought, going over everything that happened that got them to this point.

******

“How did no one catch this on tape last night?” Ashley was on the phone, staring at the picture on her screen. Black Noir, thrown through the glass doors on Vought, unconscious and with a strange weapon sticking out of his shoulder. “Our cameras should have caught whoever did this!”

“Our security cameras were compromised. Someone…destroyed them.” The voice on the other end responded.

“Well find cameras that aren’t ours that still could have picked this up!” Ashley yelled back. “This is the third time one of our heroes has been attacked and we failed to capture whoever attacked them! We need to find them – uh, I have to go.” Ashley hung up and put her phone down, standing up as she saw Homelander walk in. He carefully closed and locked the door before stepping forward.

Ashley stood up, carefully walking around her desk. “Homelander, great to see you back! I know things lately have been chaotic and not exactly what we were expecting. But I promise you, we are working overtime in making sure everything is dealt with appropriately. If there is ANYTHING I can do for you, please just ask!” Ashley gave a weak smile in an attempt to make sure everything was fine. His lack of any facial expression worried her. 

“I suppose there is one thing you could answer for me.” He walked all the way over to her, tapping his finger against his chin as he stared down in thought. Putting his finger down, he looked at her. “Why was I not immediately informed about Annie’s involvement with the Compound V break?” 

As soon as the words left his mouth, Ashley felt the color drain from her face. She took a second before speaking, not wanting to stutter in front of him. “I…was going to tell you, believe me. But with Stormfront’s injuries I thought you needed a moment to yourself.” Homelander nodded his head slightly, seemingly agreeing. But then he grabbed her throat, slamming her up against the wall. His other hand was aimed at her stomach, the middle segment of his fingers pressed hard against her body, applying an intense level of pressure.

“I have to say Ashley, I am at my wits end right now.” He glared down at the woman struggling to breathe. “Not only do I have to deal with the screw ups of my so called team, the secrets that Vought has been keeping from and the obstacles they put in front of me…but now I have to deal with YOUR incompetence?” His lower hand applied more pressure. She gasped harder, her hands reaching up to grab onto the arm responsible for choking her. He simply shook his head. “I can’t afford to not be informed. If you purposefully leave me out like that again…do I really need to fucking tell you?” Ashley’s head tried to motion ‘No’ but it was hard when his hand was wrapped around her throat, when his other hand was just one slight push forward from penetrating her body. He stared at her and watched for a moment longer. Then he let go, Ashley collapsing and trying to take in every breath of air she can.

“As much as I would love to just PUSH and rip out your liver-“ Homelander made the push and rip backwards motion with his hand in the air as he looked down at her. “I simply can’t afford to waste the energy on you right now. Like I said, I still have to deal with your incompetence and handle A Train’s mental breakdown. I’m sure you’ve seen it on the news. The one thing I asked you to do and you manage to create this.” Homelander waved his hands outward. He turned around, unlocked the door and stepped out of them room. Ashley was left alone, crying and holding her knees as she stayed on the ground.

******

“Hey! Stop!” Young Marcus stopped walking and turned around. “Take your hoodie off! Slowly now!” Marcus knew the drill, slowly pulling his hands out from his pockets, holding one hand up to show he was holding nothing. Slowly, he pushed the hoodie off his head. He stared blankly at the police officer, but inside he wanted to knock his lights out. 

“Shit man, I didn’t do anything.” Marcus told the officer.

“Yea, sure. There have been a number of break ins reported in from this area. I need to take you down to the station and ask you a few questions.”

“I said didn’t do anything.” Marcus snapped back. The officer put his hand on his weapon, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, if you’re so sure about that, then it shouldn’t be a problem for you to prove it down at the station. I’m sure you can handle a few questions about your whereabouts, can’t you?” Before Marcus could respond, something crackled and glowed behind the officer. Marcus had to smile when he saw who it was. The officer turned around and couldn’t actually believe who he was seeing. 

“Seems like to me he’s telling the truth officer.” A Train stepped towards the officer. There were bits and splatters of blood on his outfit, something the officer took note of but Marcus didn’t. “Let the brother go and try to actually do your job instead of harassing people when you’re bored.”

“I…I have to ask if you’ve been in some sort of accident.” The officer could feel his heart quicken a little faster. The blood on a Supe who can run fast. He heard about the reports the people who have been splattered across sidewalks. His hand tightened on his weapon.

“Oh come on man, are you really going to be like that.” A Train was for some reason smiling, even laughing a bit as he watched the officer try to stand his ground. “Shit, if you want to do this, all right. I’ve been working on this new trick that I just learned. Let’s see if I have this down…” He moved before the officer could stop him. His face widened as he felt A Train’s hand go right through his chest. Even Marcus behind him took a few steps back in shock. After he pulled his hand out, blood dumped out of his chest, the officer landing face first in it. A Train cringed his face a bit as he saw that.

“I thought I had that down that time. Oh well, still get the same result, even if it was messier than expected.” He looked up at Marcus, giving him a wide smile and giving him a thumbs up. “It’s all right, your good to go. Get out of here!” Marcus slowly walked away, keeping his eyes on the Supe. As A Train turned around, Marcus felt free to rush a bit to get out of there. Before A Train could get too far, a familiar voice called out to him.

“Reggie!” A Train turned to look at Queen Maeve standing in the street. He noticed people on the far sidewalk moving away from them, trying to get inside. No doubt at least a few of them saw what he just did to the officer. But Maeve stood right where she was. He brought up his finger, pointing up towards the sky, moving it ever so slightly back and forth. But then he fully extended his arm and pointed at her.

“Did you know what Homelander was doing? That he was planning on kicking me off the team?” He asked her, staring from behind his sunglasses.

Maeve shook her head, trying to facially show Reggie that she isn’t scared, that she is worried about him. “I had no idea. Please, let’s just go back to Vought, get this all sorted out. I’m sure this was a huge misunderstanding. Come on Reggie.” She wasn’t sure if she had ever used A Train’s real name before. It felt so foreign to her. But given the situation, what he has done, it seemed like the right route to go with. 

“Oh man…I want to believe you SO BAD!” A Train held fists up and shook them in fake frustration. But it seemed like he was about to enjoy whatever he had planned as he stepped forward with a dark grin on his face. Maeve braced herself, but he punched her right across the face. But before she could start falling to the ground, an uppercut into her back. Then another hit here, another hit there, then about five more spread throughout. Finally she landed on her hands and knees, staring at the road beneath her as she felt her ribs press hard against her lungs. She could sense A Train standing over her, no doubt ready to deliver the final blow. But a voice stopped him, one she wasn’t expecting.

“ENOUGH A TRAIN!” The speedster looked up and saw Homelander floating in the sky. At the sight of the man responsible for him no longer being on The Seven, he laughed and crossed his arms as he looked up at him.

“Look who it is!” A Train called out. “Been wondering if you were ever going to show up. I mean, you had the bitch that used to get me my coffee do your dirty work for you!”

“I get it. You’re a little steamed.” Homelander lowered downwards, still not touching the ground. “But I have to say, I’m impressed. I don’t think I have ever seen you this fast.”

“New and improved.” A Train responded. “Might even be faster that you.”

“Oh, I think we have to test that claim of yours.” Homelander gave a mysterious smile. Then he sped off, A Train cracking his neck and using his newfound speed to go after him. Maeve barely lifted her head up high enough to see them go off. She tried to run down various streets and road, trying to find them. Every once in a while, she would seem them go by her. Homelander in a gust of wind, and A Train with lightning on his trail, something she had never seen him do before. 

Homelander was actually impressed. He was forcing himself to go faster than he normally does just to make sure he is far ahead enough. Leading him on, Homelander, made sure they continuously pass over the same spot on the same street every now and then, making sure it is prepared. Then with another burst, he shot ahead. Turning around, he waited for A Train to show up exactly where he wants him too. As soon as he did, the nanonites that he had spread across this small patch of pavement turned on and turned it into ice.

A Train was stuck in the middle. Ice had covered his feet and ankles, moving halfway up his calves. Yelling out, the speedster struggled to try and find a way out of the ice. Homelander landed on the pavement just on the other side of the ice patch. He stared and even seemed to have some sort of sympathy on his face. That could just be due to the fact that he saw pedestrians take out their cameras and start to record the event unfolding. One of The Seven, kicked off the team and whose secrets were exposed earlier that day, was no going up against Homelander. He glared at the caped Supe, trying to get his body to vibrate just like how he was taught not even a day ago. The Supe braced himself, his arms behind him, waiting. Using his super hearing and fast reflexes, he picked up on the first sound that A Train had broken free. The millisecond it happened, his red eyes shot laser right in front of him, no restraint.

Maeve saw the action. Everything seemed to go dead silent. No, that wasn’t right. The movement of the pedestrians on the sidewalks, some of them covering their mouths, she knew people were making sounds of shock and maybe even disgust. She couldn’t be sure. All she saw was A Train, now only a few feet in front of Homelander, with two giant wholes in his chest. The caped hero reached out and grabbed him, stopping him from falling to the ground. The cameras showed someone who did something drastic but seemed to feel terrible about what he had done. It would be a little bit before the footage hits the news, before Stan Edgar, The Boys, or anyone else would hear of what had just happened. But Maeve saw now, and she felt like she was staring into a growing void that will only grow larger and consume everything in its path.


End file.
